Railway-track construction



' R. L. SPENCER RAILWAY TRACK CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Sept. 8, 1924wrrNEssEs lNvENToR Poel'eesve/zcef A'rTRNEYs l Patented Apr. i9, 1927.

UNTEQ STATES PATENT QFFCE.

ROBERT L. SPENCER, OF HARRISBURG, ARKANSAS.

A rarezas RAILWAY-TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed September 8, 1924, Serial No. 736,590. Renewed October6, 1926.

My railway tiack constructions,

invention relates to improvements in and it consists in thecombinations, constructions and arrangements herein described An objectof the invention an improved railway trac and claimed.

is to provide k construction which includes means for supporting trackrails in spaced apait parallel relation so that the track rails aresecurely vheld against spreadin 0',

sinking or other movement in respect to each other without the use ofties and particularly wooden ties such as are ordinarily employed inrailway trackconstructions for the support of A further object ofprovision of a railway the track rails.

the invention is the track construction which has means for supportingYadjacent rails and for connecting the meeting ends of adjacent rails sothat such rails are securely held against .sagging tion with each other.

at their junc- A still further object of the invention is the provisionin a railway track construca relatively great area w lessening oflikelihood of ith consequent injury to the track construction or to thesupporting roadbed. A further object of the invention is the provisionin a track construction of the character described of adjustable meansfor connecting parallel track rails and for firmly holding the trackrails in adjusted spaced apart parallel relation.

A still further the provision of a trackconstruction object of theinvention is having rail supporting means adapted to engage with thecomponent. which the track constructie so that such elements of thetained against movement from sorting iosition.

elements of a bed on n is supported bed will be re track sup- Otherobjects and advantages will be apparent from the following description,considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which-dFigure 1 is sectional view of a railway a fragmentary perspective trackconstruction embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a section substantially along the line 2 2 of Figure l,

Figure 3 is a perspective group view,

showing in transverse ver tical section a modified form of railway trackconstruction showing also in detached position the coupling plate forconnecting the meeting ends of supporting members for adjacent rails.

A railway track constiuction embodying the invention in the form nowpreferre by me and as illustrated in Figures l and 2 comprises parallelseries of sections or units U connected together in end to end abuttingrelation and supported upon al roadbed B.

Each of the unit-s compris-es a base plate l formed with an upturnedflange 2 at one longitudinal edge thereof and with a downturned flange 3at the other longitudinal edge thereof. Both of the flanges 2 and 3 areturned outwardly at their extremities as indicated at 2n and 3respectively.

A plate l carries a rail le which extends longitudinally the flanges 2and 3 and is equal in length with the plate. The rail 4 may be a memberwhich has been formed separately from the plate and fastened to theplate by cooperative fastening members such as indicated at 5 and 6respectively in Figures l and 2, the fastening member 5 being in theform of a lug which is integral with the plate and engages a lateraledge portion of the base flange of the rail in such manner as to clampthe latter to the plate while the fastening member 6 is separate fromthe plate and is releasably secured to the plate in clamping relation tothe lateral edge portion of the base flange of the rail opposite thatwhich is engaged by the fastening member 5. I prefer to to the plate 1by means of bolts 7 and nuts 8, the bolts extending through openings inthe plate and through slots 9 in the fastening member 6, whereby themember 6 can be adjusted toward and away from the member 5 when the nuts8 are loosened and rails having base fianges ofdiffei'ent widths thussecurely clamped to the plate.

Opposite plates l may be connected in c esired spaced parallel positionsby meansy of of the plate midway betweenl fasten the member 6 tie rodsl0, each of which has the interinei Leaaass plates of the modified formof railway track construction.

The respective units of each series of the modified form of railwaytrack construction are connected together' in the saine manner as thecorresponding units of the preferred form of railway track constructionand the operation of the modified form of railway track construction isidentical in essential respects with the hereinbefore describedoperation of the preferred form of railway.

Obviously, my invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other thanthose illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in theforegoing and I therefore consider as my own all such modifications andadaptations thereof as fairly fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

l claim Y l. ln a railway track construction, a unit comprising a baseplate having an upturned flange at its inner longitudinal edge and adownturned flange at its outer longitudinal edge, and a rail equal inlength with the plate and carried by the latter to extend longitudinallyof the plate midway between said flanges, and means whereby said platecan be secured rigidly to the plate of an adjacent unit with the railson said plates in end to end abutting relation and in alignment, saidrail having a drain opening formed through the web portion thereof, saiddrain opening toward its outer end.

2. A railway track construction comprising parallel units, each of saidunits comprising a base plate having an upturned flange at its innerlongitudinal edge and a. downturned flange at its outer longitudinaledge being inclined downwardly and a rail equal in length with the plateand 40 extending longitudinally thereof midway between the flanges, andcross connecting means between said units, said cross connecting meanscomprising a rigid bar having inverted U-shaped attaching portions aftits opposite ends embracing the upturned flanges of adjacent units andsecured to the latter.

3. In a railway track construction, a unit comprising a base platehaving al downturned flange at its outer edge and an upturned flange atits inner edge, and a rail integral with said base plate and extendinglongitudinally of the latter midway between said flanges and terminatingat its opposite ends out of alignment with the corresponding ends of thebase plate.

l. .ln a railway track construction, a unit comprising a base platehaving a downturned flange at one longitudinal edge and an upturnedflange at the other longitudinal edge thereof, a rail carried by thebase plate to extend longitudinally thereof midway between said flanges,and a coupling plate adapted to be disposed partially underneath saidbase plate in position to extend beyond an end of said base plate, saidcoupling plate having an upturned flange at one edge adapted to restfiatwise against the upturned flange of the base plate and having adown-turned flange at its opposite edge for resting flat.- wise againstthe down-turned flange of the base plate, said corresponding flanges ofthe base plate and the coupling plate having aligned openings for thereception of fastening devices, whereby said coupling plate can beutilized to secure said ba'se plate to the base plate of an adjacentunit.

ROBERT L. SPENCER.

